Minister in the Prime
Minister's Office and Second Minister for Trade and Industry, S Iswaran,
made the announcement on Monday at the opening of the Singapore
International Energy Week.

He said the move is expected to
benefit major consumers of energy, including the electronics,
petrochemical and chemicals sectors.

As a small country almost
wholly reliant on imported energy, Singapore has to adapt to the
evolving global environment to shape its energy landscape.

One
strategy is to empower consumers so they can make informed decisions on
energy consumption. This is something which the industry consultation on
demand response hopes to achieve.

Mr Iswaran said: "This is
specifically in the context of consumers being able to respond to price
signals and then curtail demand when there are spikes in the price.

"What
that does is two things -- one, at the individual consumer level,
whether you are a company or an organisation, is that you are able to
lower your costs of energy... At the system level, it then lessens the
system level pressure when there are peak demands."

Industries
will be consulted on how they can put in place control systems to shed
energy loads when prices spike -- for example, by cutting down lights
and air conditioning.

"What we want to do through this
consultation process is put out the Energy Market Authority's, the
government's, thinking on these matters with some specific ideas and
then get a response from the industry itself -- because there's quite a
range of industry players who would be interested in these sorts of
initiatives," said Mr Iswaran.

"And we want to make sure we have
heard the different perspectives before we go ahead to look at how we
can structure these arrangements," he added.

The public
consultation will also cover the possibility of an electricity futures
market in Singapore, to bring about greater competition in the energy
market, which will in turn benefit the end-user.

Mr Iswaran
explained: "Futures markets are already well-established for other
commodities such as oil and gas. They have also been introduced for
electricity in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK.

"Firstly,
independent retailers will be able to participate in the market by
purchasing futures contracts and in turn offering competitive packages
to consumers. This will increase retail competition and benefit end
consumers.

"Consumers will also be able to hedge their risks by
locking in longer-term prices, while generation companies stand to gain
by using the futures contracts to hedge against their fuel price and
operational risks during plant outages."

Besides the various
initiatives to boost Singapore's energy sector, there are also several
research projects in areas of renewable energy and electric cars.

Mr
Iswaran emphasised that in Singapore's growing energy market, it is
important to ensure that the required manpower is trained to meet the
needs of the industry.

Mr Iswaran also spoke about Singapore's strategy to diversify sources to enhance its energy security.

He
said Singapore's Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal is on track to
start operations in the second quarter of 2013. With the development of
the terminal, Singapore will be well-placed to diversify its gas supply
and tap on the global LNG market.

Mr Iswaran said the demand for LNG is already stronger than initially expected.

He
stressed that individuals and businesses have played, and will continue
to play, a key role in developing a strong energy industry for the
people and businesses.

To acknowledge those who have made
outstanding contributions to Singapore's energy sector, the government
has introduced the Singapore Energy Award.